In the prior art, the concept of dynamic tension or isometrics is well known, having been popularized by Charles Atlas many years ago. The concept of isometrics involves pitting one or more muscle groups against other muscle groups in a stationary fashion. Typically, one hand of an exerciser is pushed against or pulled apart from the other hand with the other hand imparting an opposite and generally equal force. Neither hand nor the exerciser's body is typically moved during the pushing or pulling of the hands.
One of the drawbacks to the system of isometrics is the inability to generate sufficiently large workloads to involve the circulation (heart rate especially) appreciably. For one thing, the duration of each isometric exercise is too brief; for another the muscle mass involved in the exercise was generally too small. Consequently, isometric exercise only provides strength improvement and does not contribute to endurance, flexibility, aerobic training or the like.
Another common form of exercising involves movement, i.e. isotonics. Examples of these types of exercises include swimming, running, rowing, biking, aerobics and the like. While these exercises offer superb cardiovascular training, they are often deficient in building strength or using a large volume of muscle simultaneously.
One other form of exercising is a hand weight-assisted whole body exercise known as Heavyhands.RTM. that was developed by the inventor. In this exercise, hand weights are utilized during walking, jogging or the like in an effort to combine aerobic or cardiovascular training with strength training.
Presently, there is a large emphasis on exercise equipment or devices that are designed to work a single muscle group only, e.g., abdominal exercising machines, treadmills, stationary bikes, etc. Often times, these types of equipment, while driving the heart rate up, may not exercise enough of the skeletal musculature to provide a complete body workout. For example, there are important leg group muscles that are not adequately exercised during running or biking. Other equipment may ignore upper body strength, overall flexibility and many other muscles, including the low back and abdomen. Further, equipment that may provide a more extensive workout may be cost prohibitive for many to use.
In view of the many disadvantages with present day exercise techniques and devices in terms of cost, insufficient muscle volume utilization, monotonous routines, inadequate cardiovascular training and the like, a need has developed to provide an exercise method or routine which overcomes the disadvantages with the prior art systems noted above. In response to this need, the present invention provides a fitness method that does not require any exercise equipment or device(s) and provides both strength and endurance training simultaneously.